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Deconstruction 鈥� thoughtfully taking apart a building with an eye toward material reuse 鈥� is not a new idea. But Portland is preparing to make it the new normal.

The City Council recently passed a law, backed by Mayor Charlie Hales, that requires deconstruction of houses built prior to 1917 and all buildings designated historic. After the law takes effect this fall, only contractors certified by the city will be authorized to handle such projects.

So the city is working with Earth Advantage to prepare a workforce of contractors. The classroom for certification this week is a vacant, 35-year-old, single-family home in the Pleasant Valley area. Signs on windows indicate that the property is used by the Portland Police Bureau for canine training, and debris in the upstairs hallway indicates that it’s also used by the bomb squad.

The city’s instructor is Dave Bennink, a Bellingham, Wash., resident who travels around the country instructing聽in deconstruction. Portland’s program is indeed unique, he said, though Boulder, Colo., also has a robust one, and Vancouver, British Columbia, has maybe the best program he’s seen.

Bennink has contributed chapters to the authoritative book on deconstruction 鈥� the Building Materials Reuse Association’s 鈥淚ntroduction to Deconstruction.鈥� Copies were distributed at the training session earlier this week.

鈥淚f you demolish your (building) and send everything to the landfill, you’re paying twice 鈥� for the demolition, and for the new materials,鈥� he said.

Monday featured a skills assessment where experienced contractors were able to demonstrate they didn’t need the full course. Tuesday and Wednesday were full instruction days involving lecture and demonstrations.

Most companies were represented by an owner. A few sent more than one representative. Some students were members of firms that perform deconstruction 鈥� Rose City Disposal sent three people, and the ReBuilding Center was represented by longtime materials reuse advocate Stephen Reichard.

Most of the other participants this week were members of the city’s Prime Contractors Development Program, which helped enable grants to cover course fees. In the future, deconstruction training will run聽upwards of $1,700, depending on class size.

One thought behind the training is that graduates will pass on what they learned to co-workers and subordinates. After Oct. 31, when the law goes into effect, only businesses with an employee certified in deconstruction will be allowed to perform the work.

Dan Mohrmann, proprietor of Pelican Deconstruction, Salvage and Design, said he feels the winds of change, and wants to be ahead of the curve with adoption of the city’s deconstruction policy. He’s performed the work before, and wants to ensure he’s able to continue after Halloween.

Mohrmann was one of several students seen yawning during a long lecture.

鈥淎 lot of us aren’t used to sitting still for that long,鈥� he said.

When Denise Shaw, general manager of Ruffin Construction, debated which employee to send for the certification training, she had about 10 to choose from. She selected her son and business partner, Patrick, who is expected to take over for her one day. The Shaws expect certification in deconstruction to lead to more work for them, but don’t expect it to radically alter their lives.

鈥淵ou know, if there’s going to be a list of contractors that do (deconstruction), it will be nice to be on that list,鈥� Patrick Shaw said.

City officials hope that with deconstruction’s relatively low bar of entry in terms of cost and skill, the emerging industry segment will provide women and minorities a foothold for growth.